News

By 2030, 1 out of 4 people will live in poor housing conditions.

The fast-moving challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic adds another urgent reason to ensure that people can shelter at home and protect their health and families.

ACT NOW ❗ ➔ Sign the petition:

https://bit.ly/home4all_петиция

In Europe today, young people cannot afford to rent a flat in many cities; and a growing number of families cannot pay their heating and cooling bills. Globally, more than half of the urban population lives in slums. Proper housing is a matter of life and death in the current pandemic as people are asked to stay at home to protect themselves against the coronavirus.

Home has become more important than ever, and the European Union has a role to play.
Join Habitat for Humanity in calling on the EU to:

● Prioritize affordable housing in the next EU budget for 2021-27, particularly for countries in the global South;
● Increase funding for access to water and sanitation and for slum upgrading to protect communities against diseases;
● Address energy poverty in the European Green Deal with concrete financial measures.

Situation

More than half of the people around the world live in urban areas. By 2050, urban residents are expected to almost double, adding an additional 2,5 billion people to the global urban population. Cities will continue to grow as people search for jobs, stability and the promise of a better life. While progress has been made, the world’s ability to meet the housing demand of the global urban population is currently outpaced by the rate of urbanisation. One in every 8 people live in a slum.

Without adequate and affordable housing; without land rights, more and more families are at risk of poverty and insecurity. The current coronavirus pandemic has highlighted importance of housing as the means of protection against deadly diseases. A proper home has become the most important remedy. But it is not accessible to all. Habitat for Humanity works for access to decent housing because it is foundational to individuals and families, to the to the communities in which we live and to the economies in which we all participate.

However, many countries are unprepared and unable to meet the growing housing needs of urban residents. The expected global population increase of 1,18 billion combined with the existing global housing need, means that approximately 2 billion people will be in need of adequate housing in 2030. This creates an unprecedented housing challenge.

Why should we sign this now?

The European Union—the world’s biggest development donor —has a unique opportunity and responsibility to help partner countries in the global South to scale up efforts to meet housing needs. The next EU budget for 2021-27 is a key tool to help millions of people to improve their housing conditions and help them fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The European Commission launched the European Green Deal to address the climate emergency. At the heart of this initiative lies a “renovation wave” of existing buildings, and a focus on alleviating energy poverty to ensure a Just Transition towards a green economy.

Take action now. Join Habitat for Humanity and partner organizations all over Europe to urge the EU to support the above recommendations, promoting a world in which everyone has a decent place to live.

Partner organizations:

Habitat for Humanity International EMEA
Habitat for Humanity Bulgaria

The European Climate Foundation will support Habitat Bulgaria’s advocacy work in the areas of the residential energy efficiency and the development of a definition for “Energy Poverty”.

Habitat Bulgaria will actively advocate for the adoption of a Long-term Strategy for the Renovation of the Housing and Non-housing Stock 2021-2050, the development of a definition, parameters and content of “Energy Poverty” and the prolongation of the National Programme for Energy Efficiency of the Multi-family Buildings on the basis of new principles for co-financing and selection and with a focus on supporting the low-income households for their participation in the Programme.

The partnership between the European Climate Foundation and Habitat Bulgaria starts on July 1st, 2020 and is contracted for one year.

Habitat Bulgaria is implementing the project “Research Based Arguments for New Housing Policies in Benefit of All”. The project started in October 2019 and is funded within the first call for strategic projects of Active Citizen Fund Bulgaria with the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area.

The duration of the project, which aims to support the development of adequate municipal and national housing policies and to contribute to the improvement of the housing conditions of vulnerable groups of the population, is 24 months. The project ends in September 2021.

Within the scope of the new project initiative, Habitat Bulgaria will carry out a detailed sociological research of the housing needs in the Roma communities in the town of Sliven – the district of “Nadezhda” and the village of Topolchane as well in the town of Targovishte – “Malcho Malchev” district and the village of Golyamo Novo. In parallel, Habitat Bulgaria will assess the current housing policies of the municipalities and will prepare an analytical report and recommendations. A debate and direct interventions with the public authorities and other local stakeholders will be initiated on the basis of the report to articulate municipal housing policies, programs and decrees, relevant to the real needs.

The vision, as well the goals and the measures needed for the improvement of the housing conditions, will be discussed at round table discussions with the interested stakeholders. Several local organizations will be trained to advocate for housing and housing-related issues with the local governments. The analytical report and the recommendations will be presented at a National Housing Forum to be attended by the local and the national institutions.

The project “Research Based Arguments for New Housing Policies in Benefit of All” is implemented with a financial support of 93,000 Euro, secured by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway within the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. The main goal of the project is to contribute to the development of long-term, needs-driven municipal and national housing policies, which will secure safe and adequate housing for Roma.